Welcome to TV Recap, in which we look at modern shows and analyze them on an episode-to-episode basis. This one focuses on the cartoon sitcom Bob's Burgers, a very funny show that is capable of rivaling old school Simpsons in terms of irreverent humor and off the wall zaniness. With a cast of modern alternative comedian heroes, the story follows the Belchers as they run a burger joint. Join me as I take part in dissecting the show in its first full season. Check back on Tuesdays for the next exciting installment.
While most of Fox's shows are currently reaching their last few episodes of season programming, Bob's Burgers has officially submitted their 10th episode. It is great to have the show back on regularly and producing work that is among some of their stronger stories. However, this week's episode is definitely one of those empty calories/filler episodes that the show does from time to time, but without as much interesting content to mull over. It's not a terrible episode, but it's very unmemorable to say the least.
The episode opens with Tina (Dan Mintz) fantasizing about her upcoming day as an assistant to Nurse Liz (Samantha Bee). After running through a series of events in her head, she finally starts the day with a familiar and boring routine. Nobody is sick and she is mostly cleaning up the place to pass the time. It isn't until Tammy (Jenny Slate) comes in with a lice problem that things begin to escalate. Considering that both Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen Schaal) come in for reasons that aren't that thought out - gym and test taking respectively - the room becomes a quarantine as everyone becomes accused of having lice, including Mr. Frond (David Herman), who also is the first to have his head improperly shaved to solve the problem.
It is soon discovered that Nurse Liz is a psychopath. She shaves her head and then proceeds to chase down the other students after they open the door. Tammy and Louise join forces in an attempt to escape, but find themselves going back to the quarantine in order to help everyone else out. Everyone goes home and Nurse Liz is locked in the room so that she cannot escape and wreak havoc on the world. Meanwhile, Louise has to go take her test. With this in mind, she fakes another injury.
Meanwhile, Bob (Jon Benjamin) gets new stools at Bob's Burgers and is going to test them out on a party that is coming from the nursing home - specifically old people. The issue is that these chairs release air in a flatulent way, and Bob panics as he tries to figure out how to get the sound out of them. He has Teddy (Larry Murphy) and Linda (John Roberts) help out before quickly getting assistance form the town by offering free beer. To their relief, they have gotten enough of the air out. When the party arrives, an elderly woman sits on the stool and the sound happens. To Teddy's relief, it is the woman, not the chair.
Rating: 3 out of 5
I will admit that there are weeks where it seems futile to dissect Bob's Burgers episodes. Some of them are merely done for the sake of entertainment, and the jokes aren't worth splitting hairs over. For the most part, this is one of those episodes with a plot that is perfectly fine, but has no real substance underneath. The show has done the idea of crazy characters a lot better in the past. Their parody of quarantine stories doesn't cover any new or exciting grounds. The third act reveal is very obvious, so it doesn't have a lot of the weight that even last week's meta "Sacred Couch" had in helping the audience to better understand the show.
It also doesn't help that I am frankly not a fan of Tammy as a character. While it gave us a great episode last season regarding a bar mitzvah, the whole Tammy/Louise portion of this story was more obnoxious than entertaining - as it mostly revolved around two girls complaining about their situation. While it was funny to see Tammy have to deal with someone stealing her news anchor job, she remains just as bratty and obnoxious as ever before. I am not saying it is bad, as it is part of Bob's Burgers DNA, but I still have a few characters that I loathe seeing whenever they get a bigger part in the episode.
It was nice to see Tina get a more central episode this week. She is someone who wants to have purpose, and this quest to get it was interesting. The only thing is that it's disappointing that Tina looks for a career and runs into a crazy woman who is willing to shave heads. I don't know that it will dissuade her long term, but it definitely only continues the trend of Tina not getting anything satisfactory out of life. Nurse Liz is a decent character, but there was so much of nothing going on in the story that she kind of fell flat overall.
The B-Plot with Bob and the stools was pretty pointless as well. I know that this show likes to revel in lowbrow humor from time to time. It's just that sometimes you wish that it didn't have to go to that well. It was a lot of nothing in the story, especially since it merely existed to have people jump up and down on stools to make funny noises. I would like to say that there was some value long term, but even Teddy's triumphant cries that ended the story seemed more like exploiting the humor than having a genuine joke. I didn't like it at all. Maybe without this B-Plot, the episode could've ranked higher. Otherwise, it's just a mediocre episode and probably the worst since "The Hauntening" (also this season).
Bob's Burgers is a good show and it thankfully has remained consistently engaging. Just because this episode failed to capture the magic of what makes the show work doesn't mean that the show is on a decline. If anything, the recent batch of episodes have been consistently above average and very interesting from a concept standpoint. I like the show a lot and am willing to give their creative misfires some credit. The show is somehow in its sixth season, which is twice as long as I expected it to go. However, it still manages to endear with a certain charm that is inexplicable. I may not like the fart stools, but I do like the family - and that'll keep me going for a little longer.
The episode opens with Tina (Dan Mintz) fantasizing about her upcoming day as an assistant to Nurse Liz (Samantha Bee). After running through a series of events in her head, she finally starts the day with a familiar and boring routine. Nobody is sick and she is mostly cleaning up the place to pass the time. It isn't until Tammy (Jenny Slate) comes in with a lice problem that things begin to escalate. Considering that both Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen Schaal) come in for reasons that aren't that thought out - gym and test taking respectively - the room becomes a quarantine as everyone becomes accused of having lice, including Mr. Frond (David Herman), who also is the first to have his head improperly shaved to solve the problem.
It is soon discovered that Nurse Liz is a psychopath. She shaves her head and then proceeds to chase down the other students after they open the door. Tammy and Louise join forces in an attempt to escape, but find themselves going back to the quarantine in order to help everyone else out. Everyone goes home and Nurse Liz is locked in the room so that she cannot escape and wreak havoc on the world. Meanwhile, Louise has to go take her test. With this in mind, she fakes another injury.
Meanwhile, Bob (Jon Benjamin) gets new stools at Bob's Burgers and is going to test them out on a party that is coming from the nursing home - specifically old people. The issue is that these chairs release air in a flatulent way, and Bob panics as he tries to figure out how to get the sound out of them. He has Teddy (Larry Murphy) and Linda (John Roberts) help out before quickly getting assistance form the town by offering free beer. To their relief, they have gotten enough of the air out. When the party arrives, an elderly woman sits on the stool and the sound happens. To Teddy's relief, it is the woman, not the chair.
Rating: 3 out of 5
I will admit that there are weeks where it seems futile to dissect Bob's Burgers episodes. Some of them are merely done for the sake of entertainment, and the jokes aren't worth splitting hairs over. For the most part, this is one of those episodes with a plot that is perfectly fine, but has no real substance underneath. The show has done the idea of crazy characters a lot better in the past. Their parody of quarantine stories doesn't cover any new or exciting grounds. The third act reveal is very obvious, so it doesn't have a lot of the weight that even last week's meta "Sacred Couch" had in helping the audience to better understand the show.
It also doesn't help that I am frankly not a fan of Tammy as a character. While it gave us a great episode last season regarding a bar mitzvah, the whole Tammy/Louise portion of this story was more obnoxious than entertaining - as it mostly revolved around two girls complaining about their situation. While it was funny to see Tammy have to deal with someone stealing her news anchor job, she remains just as bratty and obnoxious as ever before. I am not saying it is bad, as it is part of Bob's Burgers DNA, but I still have a few characters that I loathe seeing whenever they get a bigger part in the episode.
It was nice to see Tina get a more central episode this week. She is someone who wants to have purpose, and this quest to get it was interesting. The only thing is that it's disappointing that Tina looks for a career and runs into a crazy woman who is willing to shave heads. I don't know that it will dissuade her long term, but it definitely only continues the trend of Tina not getting anything satisfactory out of life. Nurse Liz is a decent character, but there was so much of nothing going on in the story that she kind of fell flat overall.
The B-Plot with Bob and the stools was pretty pointless as well. I know that this show likes to revel in lowbrow humor from time to time. It's just that sometimes you wish that it didn't have to go to that well. It was a lot of nothing in the story, especially since it merely existed to have people jump up and down on stools to make funny noises. I would like to say that there was some value long term, but even Teddy's triumphant cries that ended the story seemed more like exploiting the humor than having a genuine joke. I didn't like it at all. Maybe without this B-Plot, the episode could've ranked higher. Otherwise, it's just a mediocre episode and probably the worst since "The Hauntening" (also this season).
Bob's Burgers is a good show and it thankfully has remained consistently engaging. Just because this episode failed to capture the magic of what makes the show work doesn't mean that the show is on a decline. If anything, the recent batch of episodes have been consistently above average and very interesting from a concept standpoint. I like the show a lot and am willing to give their creative misfires some credit. The show is somehow in its sixth season, which is twice as long as I expected it to go. However, it still manages to endear with a certain charm that is inexplicable. I may not like the fart stools, but I do like the family - and that'll keep me going for a little longer.
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